For years the state of Florida has been a key area for Ohio State on the recruiting trail. With Urban Meyer now in the fold, the Sunshine State will likely become an even bigger target for the Buckeyes' recruiting efforts. Already, a few juniors from Florida are receiving heavy interest from Ohio State, including Naples (Fla.) Barron Collier tight end Mike Heuerman. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound prospect is the younger brother of Ohio State tight end Jeff Heuerman and he had plenty to say about Meyer.

"I was definitely excited (about the hire)," said Heuerman. "I know Jeff is excited. The first thought that went through my mind was that coach Meyer is the type of coach that is going to win a lot of ball games."

Meyer has been known to use the tight end creatively in his offense, often splitting the tight end out wide. Heuerman has plenty of experience doing just that at the high school level.

"We run the spread offense at our school," Heuerman explained. "I'm used to what he's doing and all of the decision making and everything. I love the way he uses the tight end. I love the way he used them at Florida and I'm sure he'll end up using them like that at Ohio State. I'm excited to talk to him next time I'm up there."

Recently, coaches from several different college programs have been through the halls at Barron Collier to talk about Heuerman, many of which have been recruiting the athletic tight end for a while now.

"Nebraska was at the school I think it was last Friday," he said. "Notre Dame was also there last Friday. Florida was at the school yesterday, but no new schools really."

With bowl practices coming up, Heuerman doesn't anticipate that he will be out on many unofficial visits as he prepares to get a qualifying test score. Once that is out of the way, however, Heuerman is expecting to hit up some schools north of the Mason-Dixon line.

"I'm going to take my SAT at the end of January so I'm probably not going to make any visits before then," he said. "After that, I'm going to get up to Purdue and Notre Dame and then I'll probably be up at Ohio State later during the spring."

On the field, Heuerman had some impressive performances as a junior despite missing some time with a shoulder injury. Heuerman is now fully healthy again and was able to return for the playoffs.

"I was satisfied with my junior year," he said. "I knew that I was going to have to come out and make plays and I think everything worked out well, I was satisfied with it."